Free Republic

On Wednesday morning, the FBI executed a massive coordinated operation across Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, arresting 12 sitting judges accused of accepting over $45 million in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. This investigation, described as the most extensive judicial corruption case in modern American history, has compromised nearly 900 criminal cases over the last seven years. In this video, we break down the 200-page federal indictment that exposes how "Coordinator" Judge Robert Martinez recruited his colleagues into a criminal conspiracy. We analyze how the cartel used complex asset-flipping schemes to launder bribe money, and how these judges systematically dismantled...

"It's official. I'm running for Mayor of LA." After a year of calling out Democrat leadership for its handling of last year's devastating Los Angeles wildfires, Spencer Pratt is offering Angelenos an alternative: himself. Pratt, who shot to fame playing a villainous version of himself on hit MTV reality show "The Hills," lost the Pacific Palisades house he shared with wife (and former castmate) Heidi Montag and their children in the January 7, 2025, conflagration. Since then, he has emerged as one of the most prominent critics of L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom, both Democrats. Fired...

Like many of us, Katie Pasitney entered the new year with a resolution. Hers, however, is not personal or private, but public and political: to hold the Canadian government accountable for what it did to her family, their farm, and the more than 300 ostriches whose blood still stains their British Columbia property. Pasitney recently spoke to Align after what she calls the worst Christmas season of her life — describing weeks of shock, trauma, and severe depression in the wake of the government's November 6 culling of Universal Ostrich Farms' entire herd. Death sentence The culling was the sad...

President Trump has found a powerful but obscure bulwark in the appeals court judges he appointed during his first term. They have voted overwhelmingly in his favor when his administration’s actions have been challenged in court in his current term, a New York Times analysis of their 2025 records shows. Time and again, appellate judges chosen by Mr. Trump in his first term reversed rulings made by district court judges in his second, clearing the way for his policies and gradually eroding a perception early last year that the legal system was thwarting his efforts to amass presidential power. When...

Iran has warned it will retaliate if attacked by the US, as protesters defied a deadly government crackdown on Saturday night. Videos verified by the BBC and eyewitness accounts appeared to show the government ramping up its response to the protests, which have spread to more than 100 cities and towns across every province in Iran. Medics at two hospitals have told the BBC that more than 100 bodies had been brought in over a two day period. The nationwide death toll is feared to be far higher. The US has threatened to strike Iran over the killing of protesters....

In response to the crimes being committed in Minnesota by immigrants, the Trump administration has ordered 2,000 federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to conduct a 30-day crackdown in the Twin Cities area. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif) said "while Gov. Walz and I might very well end up as rival contenders for the 2028 Democratic nomination for president, this intrusion on state sovereignty is unwarranted. Tim is a man of character, strength, and compassion. The fact that he has suspended his bid for reelection so he can focus on finding and prosecuting the daycare fraud...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported severe conditions across multiple regions following intensified Russian strikes on critical infrastructure. According to his shared X statement on January 11, he confirmed that attacks have disrupted electricity, heating, and water supplies during freezing winter temperatures. He detailed a significant escalation in the volume and variety of Russian weapons used over the course of one week. Additionally, he stated that Russia launched almost 1,100 attack drones, more than 890 guided aerial bombs, and over 50 missiles. These included ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and the Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile.

In her autobiography A Lonely Life, Bette Davis remembers making All About Eve with none of the rancour or drama that should provide all the dirt an essayist would look for when writing about the film. Her part was supposed to go to someone else, but when Claudette Colbert injured her back while filming Three Came Home, director Joseph L. Mankiewicz had producer Darryl F. Zanuck call Davis. "I can think of no project that from the outset was as rewarding from the first day to the last," she writes. "It is easy to understand why. It was a great...

The House Oversight Committee voted on Wednesday to subpoena Rolling Stone contributing editor Seth Harp after he shared a picture and biography of a Delta Force commander that he said played a central role in the recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela. Harp posted the commander’s biography — which included the officer’s first and last name and the fact he had a wife and five daughters — to X on Sunday. The journalist later claimed X locked his account until he deleted the post, according to a Monday statement he posted on the social media platform. The Daily Caller News...

Seriously, FA and FO seem to be foreign concepts to entitled liberal white women. Why don’t you all make this viral? I think this would put a lot of sand up GloboLeft panties. [The song is at the link.] Ghost Lesbians in the Sky by Johnny Wilder (apologies to Johnny Cash) Audio Player 00:00 03:18 Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume. An old lesbian went riding out One bright Minnesota day Upon a road she rested As she tried to stop ICE anyway When all at once a mighty mess Of bulb head illegals she saw Plowin’...

The Democratic Socialists of America — for whom New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a vocal supporter — and a Chinese Communist Party-linked activist network are leading a two-front resistance effort against President Donald Trump, with street protests seeking to blend efforts opposing ICE with the arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro. The coordinated organizational effort by the DSA and affiliated protest groups is fueled in large part by funding from CCP-linked wealthy Marxist businessman Neville Singham. That network produced a new slogan over the past few days — “No Wars. No Kings. No ICE.” — which sought to...

A top-ranked board game player has said President Trump's geopolitical rampage through the Western Hemisphere looks just like a popular strategy in the game of Risk. Michael Olivol, a grandmaster and former world number one player at Risk, revealed that the game's most advanced players often attempt to control all of North America before moving on to easier targets like South America in their quest to rule the world. Risk is a classic strategy board game where players battle for global domination by conquering territories on a map, building armies, rolling dice to fight enemies, and forming sneaky alliances. Coincidentally,...

The late Colin Powell, in an interview about the difference between governing and campaigning, invoked his long experience and humor to describe it this way: “I think any human being with an IQ over 40, who is a mammal, loves governing more than campaigning.” It’s a shame that Powell, a top military leader and a secretary of state who died in 2021, isn’t available to counsel Zohran Mamdani. If he were, perhaps he could get through to New York’s new mayor, who appears to be so in love with campaigning that he can’t kick the habit. How else to explain...

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who just keeps racking up job titles, could have another one soon, President Trump hinted. The commander-in-chief mused that Rubio, who once held four big administration jobs simultaneously and has been floated for more, could become president of Cuba, where his parents fled in the 1950s during the brutal Batista regime. “Sounds good to me,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Sunday in response to a random user who joked that Rubio could be Cuba’s leader after the government there falls. Rubio has been meme fodder due to the plethora of tough jobs Trump...

RealClear Samizdat Prize Gala Celebrates First Amendment Courage – and RCP’s 25th Anniversary By David DesRosiersJanuary 10, 2026 RealClear Samizdat Prize Gala Celebrates First Amendment Courage – and RCP’s 25th AnniversaryRealClearPolitics On February 11, 2026, at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, RealClear will be celebrating its 25th anniversary year – just as America’s experiment in self-government prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday. Please join us that evening for our third annual Samizdat Prize Gala honoring profiles in free-speech courage. It’s going to be a great night. We will not disappoint. Please consider dressing up, overpaying for a ticket, and...

The 550-pound bear living under a man’s Los Angeles home for 37 days has finally left the building — after being shot at with paintballs. Altadena homeowner Ken Johnson has been living with the massive black bear under his home since Nov. 30 when it began squatting in his crawl space. The “unbearable” roommate ruined Christmas for Johnson and had him on edge for weeks. The bear eviction finally happened Tuesday after Johnson contacted “The Bear League” — a group from Lake Tahoe that specializes in bear removal emergencies. “We heard about Ken, we felt bad for him and flew...

Minnesota State Rep. Marion Rarick says whistleblowers trying to expose fraud in state-run programs are being hit with threats straight out of a political thriller. She warned that the intimidation is systemic, and basically if you speak up, expect your life to be dismantled. Whistleblowers are supposed to be protected by law, and if they’re being hunted for telling the truth, the system is being weaponized. @MarionONeill1 : “Retaliation has been going on for quite some time and it’s now escalated. You’re going to lose your job. You’re going to lose your home. They’ll track your children. They’ll make sure...

CHRISTMAS BIBLE-ART EPISODE #29 of 33 THE HOLY FAMILY FLEES TO EGYPT H O S E A CHAPTER 11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON. But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me.” M A T T H E W CHAPTER 2 When [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for...

News flash for Vanity Fair magazine and leftist Icelandic singer Björk!An independent Greenland would be several orders of magnitude easier for the United States to bring into the fold than if it were to remain part of Denmark. And yet this is what Björk is demanding with Vanity Fair acting as her cheerleader.You can read this hilariously misguided effort by Vanity Fair (and Björk) to somehow stop Trump in Tuesday's story by Kahina Sekkai, "Björk Has a Plan to Save Greenland From Donald Trump."

U2 frontman and activist Bono has publicly backed a campaign calling for the release of Marwan Barghouti from an Israeli jail. Barghouti has been serving multiple life sentences since 2002 for orchestrating murderous terrorist attacks against Israelis. He is widely believed to have planned the Second Intifada, which claimed thousands of Israeli lives from 2000 to 2005. Barghouti has continued inciting terrorism from his jail cell. Despite his convictions, he is viewed by many Palestinian Arabs as a unifying figure and potential future leader. In a personal essay published in The Atlantic, Bono described Barghouti as “a leader of vision,...